Wonder Woman (1974)

Wonder Woman is a 1974 television film loosely based on the DC Comics character of the same name, resembling the Wonder Woman of the "I Ching period". directed by Vincent McEveety and starring Cathy Lee Crosby. It was Wonder Woman's first live-action television appearance. The film was a pilot for an intended television series, being considered by ABC.

Contents

Plot

This version of Wonder Woman (Cathy Lee Crosby) did not wear the comic book costume including the trademark tiara and her "secret identity" of Diana Prince was not all that secret. The film follows Wonder Woman, assistant to government agent Steve Trevor (Kaz Garas) as she pursues a villain named Abner Smith (Ricardo Montalban) who has stolen a set of code books containing classified information about U.S. government field agents.[1]

Production History and Reception

The pilot aired originally on March 12, 1974[2] and was repeated on August 21 of that year.[3] Ratings were described as "respectable but not exactly wondrous."[4] ABC did not pick up the pilot, although Crosby would later claim she was offered the series that was eventually given to Lynda Carter.[5] An ABC spokesperson would later acknowledge that the decision to update the character was a mistake[4] and the pilot itself has been labeled one of the "hundred dumbest events in television."[1]

References

↑ 1.01.1What Were They Thinking?: The 100 Dumbest Events in Television by David Hofstede and Tom Bergeron (contributor), Back Stage Books, 2004, pages 31-33